According to the Oxford Dictionary, a phobia is an extreme or irrational fear towards something. Phobias are normally compared to ‘fears’. Usually fear is a normal part of life, as there are many things in life that seem to cause persons a slight sense of irritability, such as, insects, thieves, or even having operations. It is theorized that most people have a certain level of ‘sensible’ anxiety when faced with the vision of a medical treatment, especially when it might be ‘invasive’. Most humans show a tendency to be squeamish at the sight of blood, for instance. Phobias are naturally a very common phenomenon. Most, if not all persons have been affected by a phobia at some point in their lifetime. A phobia is a disorder in which the body reacts in the same way an individual is experiencing feelings of fear, however, in this case the ‘fight or flight’ mentally is normally inappropriate. Most people suffer from a fear of medical procedures. There are many different forms of this type of fear. Some of these forms may include the fear of surgery, the fear of dental work, the fear of needles and even iatrophobia (the fear of doctors). Most times, these fears are often overlooked; however, it has been studied and proven than if a patient has one of these fears to the extreme it could be immensely damaging to their health, especially physiologically. However, the fear of any medical procedure does not have to be necessarily physically in or surrounding the doctor’s office. There are fears that could also limit you from going to the physician, such as embarrassment. For instance, there are many men who would never engage a doctor about the illness that seems to be troubling them, such as impotency. Most men regard this as a sign that t...
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... that he may have read online. This nearly resulted in his death. This phobia proves to be the worst phobia that doctors face, when trying to convince a patient that everything on the internet is not necessarily true, and that the patients should come to them for better advice. An individual who is severely affected by a phobia would have an increase in heart rate, which could lead to a variety of other ailments, such as, fainting, seizures, nausea and even sweating. For those who have the fear of any sort of medical treatment in an extreme manor, there are specific coping treatments that could be taken. Psychological treatments are the treatment of choice, especially when dealing with this type of fear for medical procedure. One such treatment is, Exposure based treatment for instance – the exposure of the patient to the feared object without any necessary danger.
Just imagine for a moment that you have a cynophobia or the fear of dogs, would this be how you would feel. Driving down the road the oil light comes on. "I must stop the car to add more oil or I will damage the car engine. This looks like a good place to pull over. I'll just stop in front of this house. The oil is in the trunk, so I'll pop the top first, then get the oil out of the trunk. OK, I have the oil, but what if there is a dog at this house. Hurry, I have to hurry. A dog might come running out and bark at me any minute. Just get the oil in the engine. I can't my hands are shaking. Don't worry, there is no dog. Just get the oil in the engine. I don't care if I spill it, just get some in the engine. Take another look around, is there a dog anywhere. OK, the oils in, now hurry get back in the car. I can't breath. I'm safely back in the car, now just take a minute and breath. When will my hands stop shaking." This is how a person with a phobia of dogs might feel. There is no dog around anywhere in sight, but the thought of a dog running at them barking is enough to cause a panic attack. In "Exploring Psychology" David G. Myers defines phobia as "an anxiety disorder marked by a persistent, irrational fear and avoidance of a specific object or situation" (432). This paper will explore the history, causes, effects, and treatment of Phobias.
“Nosophobia and hypochondriasis in medical students”. Wikipedia, encyclopedia. 20 May 2013, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nosophobia. Web. 15 Ap 2014.
Conquering phobias is a specialty of hypnotherapists. A phobia is a compulsive fear of a specified situation or object (Knight 2). A few types of phobias are fear of open spaces, fear of snow, fear of the cold, fear of marriage, fear of insanity, fear of being alone, fear of darkness, fear of disease, fear of beards, fear of birds, fear of being stared at, fear of bein...
Almost everyone alive has a fear of something whether it be heights, spiders or even clowns. Some people however have more serious issues with their fears, fears that follow them almost everywhere they go, these fears are called phobias. It is estimated that 4 to 5 percent of Americans have some type of phobia, which is an irrational fear of situations and certain objects. There are over 500 known phobias; a very common phobia is social phobia.
Phobias are considered a part of anxiety disorders, a phobia is an intense and irrational fear of a certain thing or situation. Some examples of phobias include fear of heights, insects, and even talking in front of a large crowd. The intensity of phobias differ from patient to patient but the severity of phobia...
In conclusion, phobias are a big part of many people’s lives these days and a growing medical condition. People do not realize how badly phobias can affect their lives so they don’t receive medical attention. There are no cures for phobias but there are treatments which will help the phobic get over their fear. I personally believe that if people care enough about their lives, they will treat their phobias. Phobias can totally alter your life so if you have any of the symptoms I have listed above, please go and get treatment.
Individuals with blood-injection-injury phobia have excessive/unreasonable fear related to seeing blood, injections, and injuries. They exhibit extreme avoidance behaviors in regards to blood, injection, or injury related stimuli. They are also likely to faint at the sight of blood, in anticipation of an injection, or in anticipation of a physical injury.
In the words of Bertrand Russell, “Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom” (Russell). Fear causes many problems in our lives. Fear influences many of a person’s actions and decisions. However, people usually regret the decisions or actions they made out of fear. Also, these actions and decisions can cause problems for those people in their future. Fear is a harmful emotion, for it clouds people’s judgement, disables them from taking action, and causes them to make decisions that they will regret later.
Picture this: a small, but extremely angry red-faced three-year-old screaming and crying as her mother carries her out of the doctor’s office. Her mother picks up a sticker from the bucket and offers it to the little girl, who normally loves stickers. The angry child keeps screaming and crying as she throws the sticker to the ground. Can you guess what I am describing? It is one of my first encounters with getting a shot.
In order to treat the fear you must treat it with relaxation while in the presence of the feared situation. The first step in Wolpe’s study was to focus on relaxing your body. He recommended a process that involves tensing and relaxing various groups of muscles until a deep state of relaxation is achieved (Wolpe,264). The second stage was to develop a list of anxiety-producing situations that are associated with the phobia. The list would descend with from the least uncomfortable situation to the most anxiety producing event you can imagine. The number of events can vary from 5 to 20 or more. The final step is to desensitize, which is the actual “unlearning” of the phobia. Wolpe told his patients that no actual contact with the fear is necessary, and that the same effectiveness can be accomplished through descriptions and visualizations(Wolpe,265). Wolpe’s participants are told to put themselves in a state of relaxation which they are taught. Then, the therapist begins reading the first situation on the hierarchy they have made up. If the patient stays relaxed through the first situation the therapist continues to the next until the state of relaxation is broken. If they feel a slight moment of anxiety they are to raise their index finger until the state of relaxation is restored. The average number
What causes dental phobia? About 75% of such patients have had a bad childhood experience in a dentist's office. Another 25% suffer from other issues like post traumatic stress disorders e.g., war veterans, domestic violence and childhood sexual abuse, anxiety disorders, substance abuse, for whom dental phobia becomes an unpleasant side effect. Also a lot of these patients didn't have a good access to dental care. Indirect experiences such as hearing about traumatic experiences/views of a friend or family member about dentistry may also contribute towards development of phobias.
Death it is something we all must face at one point in our lives or another. It is either a death of a loved one, friend or co-worker. Sometimes it’s the devastation from a natural disaster. No matter what makes us face the idea of death it is how we handle this realization that truly matters. When Gilgamesh is faced with the horrendous loss of his dear friend and comrade Enkidu he begins to fear death. In Gilgamesh’s youth he is proud without fear of death, it is not until he watches his friend die that his own mortality becomes a fear.
The origin of the word phasmo is Greek (meaning apparition or phantom) and phobia is Greek (meaning fear). Phasmophobia is considered to be a specific phobia, which is discussed on the home page. ( Phobia of Specters). And this can be triggered from heredity and genetics or past events that was similar to theses and they can become more complex down the road also,they have medicine for this but it has side effects with it
This possibility or extreme fear that one might dwell on may lead many people to struggle with phobia tendencies. This specific phobia is called Taphephobia. One of the most extensive aversions in the nineteenth century was taphephobia. It has been a primal fear since the human race has been around, deeply embedded into our instincts. This medical term is derived from the Greek, “taphos” meaning “grave” and “phobia” meaning “fear” – fear of a grave or being put in a grave while one is still living.
A current problem in healthcare is the excessive use of unnecessary medical procedures. Unnecessary procedures lead to misdiagnoses, medical errors, and increased medical cost. IN 2008 it was estimated that the U.S. was spending approximately $700 billion dollars on unnecessary medical test. Peter Orszag, the director of the congressional budget at that time, estimated that five percent of the nation’s gross domestic product went to test and procedures that did not improve health outcomes (Shafrim, 2008). Medical procedures such as MRIs, CT Scans, X-rays, which are among the most common test ordered in emergency departments, and even cesarean sections are among the most unnecessary ordered test and procedure.